Mantua Chamber Music Festival Trame Sonore 2024: Intimate Performances in Renaissance Splendor

The 2024 edition of the Trame Sonore festival took place in Mantua from May 29 to June 2, transforming the city into a grand resonant chamber. The festival, now in its twelfth year, offered a dense program of chamber music concerts across historic venues, including the Basilica Palatina di Santa Barbara, the Sala dei Fiumi of Palazzo Ducale, the Sala dei Cavalli of Palazzo Te, and the Teatro Bibiena. Performances were given mostly by young musicians, with notable appearances by veteran pianist Antonio Ballista (born 1936). The festival maintained an informal dress code of jeans and black t-shirts, contrasting with the opulent settings. The Mozart thread unfolded at Palazzo d'Arco, where the young Wolfgang stayed in January 1770; the Matangi Quartet performed the Dissonance Quartet K465, led by violinist Maria-Paula Majoor, and the Goldberg Quartet played the Quartet in D minor K421. Claudio Monteverdi, who spent productive years in Mantua, was celebrated with sacred music by Vox Musica Ensemble in Santa Barbara, madrigals by Manto Sonora under Walter Testolin, and a collaboration with the Monteverdi Festival of Cremona directed by Antonio Greco. Franz Schubert's Octet D803 was performed by soloists from the Orchestra da Camera di Mantova at Teatro Bibiena on May 30. Cellist Giovanni Sollima gave two concerts blending Bach, folk, and contemporary music.